Watching You
by GreyLiliy
Summary: .Discontinued. It always starts with a bored shinigami. What's a world class detective to do with a Death Note? AU Yotsuba Arc. Ryuk, L, Light Main.
1. Chapter 1

I've come to the conclusion that I'm a bit of a masochist. I get writers block for the rest of my fics, so what do I do? I start another one. sigh Well, this idea had been brimming in my head anyway, so it's good to get it down on paper-type-whatever. In any case, it got me writing which means my other fics have a prayer of being finished and that writer's block isn't all encompassing. Thanks so much for putting up with me!

**Watching You**

Light was a heavy sleeper, despite what one would think. Even while handcuffed to another person, he found it easy to fall asleep and stay that way for hours on end. Even more impressive, the young man kept his motion limited to light turning and adapted a quirky smile on his face that only sleep could bring without embarrassment. Light slept like one with a clear and guilt free conscious.

Which is the fact that was currently driving L crazy as he sat in front of his computer, still wide awake. There could only be two conclusions to explain Light's sleeping habits. He was either not Kira and therefore had good reason to be free of guilt. Or, as Kira, he has reached a state to where killing other people in mass didn't so much as gather a blink of a reaction. Either way, L was not happy. With the first option, it meant L was wrong. The second, it meant that his first and best friend was a monster. All in all, L would _almost_ rather be wrong.

"Sayu….stop it…I'll help with your homework later…"

L took a bit of candy out of his tray to pop it into his mouth. Light also had a nasty habit of talking in his sleep, though the conversations were often interesting. The best one by far was when Light had captured Kira and had him executed. To be honest, that would be a dream for the books if indeed Kira and Light were the same person. It made L wonder if Kira did indeed have subconscious guilt trips and a desire to be caught. In any case, L had work to do while his handcuffed companion finished his remaining six hours of sleep.

As Light rolled over, L stared contently at his computer screen. The Internet had always been such fascinating place. It always amazed him just how much support Kira had among the masses. Well, as fascinating as it was disheartening. L blew a little bit of hair out of his face as he tapped the 'down' key to fully view a page. _Kira we love you…blah...justice…blah…down with L….just goes on and on. _To be honest, he really wasn't into to working too much tonight. It was a slow news day and they had made no headway whatsoever in the case in the past few weeks. It was dragging everyone's spirits down and make office life a little tense, to be sure.

It did not help that Misa Misa refused to leave her precious Light alone for even two seconds today. Something about an anniversary that Light couldn't remember and L couldn't have cared less about. Though, forcing Matsuda to go out and buy cake for the event made everybody happy. Ah well, at least the girl knew what she wanted and was persistent if nothing else. L reached for another piece of candy in honor of her spunk and ability to stay cheerful while essentially being held hostage.

L allowed himself a rather large yawn into his hand before setting his chin on his knees. He had an urge for a piece of strawberry short cake, but that would require going into the kitchen. Which would require either undoing the cuffs, which actually wasn't an option, or waking Light up. If he woke up Light, the boy would be cranky. Also not an option if L wanted to have a stress free day. But six hours was a long time to sit in one place and do nothing. He'd have to work on getting Light to function on two hours of sleep soon or he was going to go crazy.

_Thump._

Or L was already going crazy. The detective turned his head to the source of the new sound in the room. It was difficult to see in the limited lighting, but the computer screen was adequate enough. L shifted his eyes to the warm body on the bed and noted that he hadn't moved since turning over a few moments ago. That and the chain would have rattled, not made a 'thump.' All right, something else must have fallen. Slowly creeping out of his chair, L stood up to get a better look around the room. Everything seemed to be in place, but to be sure, the young detective decided to make a walk around the room. Paranoia doesn't exist when there are real people out to kill you.

As he rounded the bed, he heard a slight mumble coming from Light. As he watched the boy, he saw something peculiar. Light's hair was moving. Not a lot mind you, but enough to be noticeable. It was as if someone had brushed his bangs from his eyes, let it fall back into place, than moved it again. The window was shut. Light was asleep. What was moving his hair? As L reached his hand down to see if there was anything there, he was met with opposition as someone gripped his wrist with what felt like a vice.

"What are you doing, Ryuuzaki?"

That someone was Light. Who was now awake. And not happy if those glaring eyes were anything to go by. Light-kun could be scary when he was angry and sleep deprived. L put a finger to his mouth to try and appear more innocent and to shift the mood from anger to mere annoyance. "Nothing, Light-kun. It looked as if something was caught in your hair. It seems I was mistaken."

"That's a horrible lie." Light shoved his face into his pillow and groaned a little. First he gets woken up from a chill down his spine from who knows what and wakes to find the creepiest person alive hovering over him. He was under the complete belief that there was something seriously mentally wrong with his companion. "Just, you know what? Never mind. Just go back to whatever you were doing before you woke me up."

L smiled a little and shook his arm. "I would if you released me, Light-kun. You'd think the handcuffs were enough."

Light snatched his hand back and shoved it under the pillow. He really didn't need this aggravation at, he quickly checked his ever present and faithful watch, two in the morning. "I'm going to sleep."

Ah, and if Light was cranky now, he was sure to be worse later in the day when L woke him up for work. L sighed to himself as he headed back to his desk. His investigation seemed to have ended in failure. Well, no hypothesis was ever proved correct on the first try, so this Detective would just have to try again the next night.

-----

Seven days of a very crabby Light later, L still had no explanation for the mysterious events that had been occurring. Light called him crazy and threatened to tell Misa that the detective was hindering the boy's precious sleep, but L knew it was an empty threat. There was no chance in Hell Light would encourage her obsession. Now though, despite what Light says, the mysterious events were expanding and L was intrigued. This was as engrossing as the Kira case (and definitely less boring!). L opened up his computer to list his findings in type.

_Night One: Light's hair brushed out of eyes._

_Night Two: Blanket shifts around Light's shoulders when he knocked it off. Experiment: remove the blanket from Light's person and observe. Finding: Blanket stayed in place until L turned away from the bed. Once he turned back the blanket shifted slightly. With each turn the blanket fully covered Light's shoulders within a time span of two hours. Downfall: Could be explained away be Light unconsciously pulling the blanket back around his shoulders (well, that's how Light-kun explained it when he watched the tape). _

_Night Three: Light wakes up unexpectedly due to some event, thought he seemed unwilling to share. He mumbled something about being cold, but got angry when L pushed for answers. Note: Get Light-kun calcium for his temper._

_Night Four: Floating apple. Though, unconfirmed. It was there and gone in less than a second. Light-kun may have a point with getting his eyes checked. It had been some time since his last visit to an optometrist._

_Night Five: The thump sound reoccurred. However, nothing could be found even when L looked under the bed and accidentally pulled Light down to the floor courtesy of the handcuffs._

_Night Six: Light-kun's mumblings in his sleep have increased slightly. They usually cease however when his hair gets 'stroked' by the mysterious force. Assumption: strange force does not appear to be hostile._

_Night Seven: Nothing happened. Save for once again waking Light up as he searched the small room top to bottom for any sign of his unexplained events._

Which lead them up to Night Eight, where L hoped to have much more successful results.

"You're paranoid, you know that?"

"I'm being cautious, Light-kun. There's a difference." L closed his little window before Light had a chance to read it. He didn't need to be teased, even if it did seem like Light was ignoring him. His roommate had a file open that he was trying to finish reading before bed. And they said that L had a tendency to work too much. "And you should be more grateful considering that it concerns your well being."

"I think that sleep deprivation is finally catching up with you, Ryuuzaki." Light pinched his nose. This last week had been hell and he really wasn't up for this tonight. Misa had noticed his lack of sleep and exploded about it all morning. Matsuda had dropped all the copies he had made of the reports this morning, and his Father was starting to be influenced by the detective's paranoia. There was no way he was concentrating tonight, so Light just gave up and tossed the folder onto the nightstand. "Could you just give it a rest tonight? Please?"

L looked at Light and sighed a little. He could see the bags around the boy's eyes and even he could tell it had been a rather rough day. No further along in the case, crazy roommate going even more psycho on him, hounded by a clingy girlfriend…yeah, L could give some pity. "Okay, I'll behave."

Light gave out a heavy breath of relief. Maybe now he could get some much needed sleep. "Thank-you, Ryuuzaki."

L noted in his head in which the method that Light collapsed into the blankets. Maybe letting him sleep all night wouldn't be a hindrance to his experiments. It's not like taking time off has effected the Kira case any in their progress. (Though, L was still certain that was because he knew who Kira was and that he was sleeping in the bed next to him.) Which probably also added to Light's weariness and easily sparked anger as of late. L yawned a little into his own hand. Also, the young detective had been skipping his own hours of sleep out of fear of missing an event. Maybe he'd compromise and catch up his own sleep tonight while Light cooled his systems.

_Thump._

Or not. L definitely knew 100 percent that he had heard a noise just then coming from Light's side of the room. Moving very slowly, L crept around the bed while making sure to keep the chain from rattling. None of the signs he had witnessed earlier seemed to be present, but that was okay. A grin stretched its way across L's face as he looked at the ground. There was finally something new to see and more importantly: tangible.

Keeping his eyes on Light as he stooped down (He really couldn't take any chances of once again waking Light without 100 percent concrete evidence to rub in the boy's face, after all.), L settled on the floor. He couldn't have been any more excited. There was finally something to break up the boredom of daily life that had an 80 percent chance of not being a dream. Not that he didn't enjoy his time with Light and the team every day, but without Light screwing up as Kira or any headway in this other guy that's probably out there L didn't have much to keep his mind stimulated.

There in front of him, was a plain black notebook with some sort of white markings on the front. All in all, it was a peculiar object to have in a bedroom. The majority of L's brain that told him it could be dangerous or a trap was quickly smothered by the curiosity. He just had to pick it up. His breath was heavy as…

Nothing happened.

L blinked a little at the anticlimactic conclusion to picking up the notebook. He flipped through the pages but found the book empty. He huffed a little as he frowned and stood up. While he couldn't explain where it had came from, it still seemed to be nothing more than an ordinary notebook. There was no powder residue from a chemical or a smell of some sort so that cut out poison. A paper cut wasn't exactly lethal either, so he was at a loss for why anyone would put a notebook in the room. Unless Light was screwing with his head. He wouldn't have put it past the boy to put his own boredom to good use thinking of ways to drive his best-est friend in the universe crazy. L rolled his eyes and decided he'd think of a way to get back at Light in the morning. He was about to throw the notebook at the boy's head when he heard the chuckle.

"Hyuk, hyuk. I wouldn't do that if I were you."

L froze in mid motion while clutching the notebook. If Light was pulling his leg, he was doing a great job pretending to be asleep while throwing his voice. And an even better job creating that giant shadow stretching across the bed in front of him. "Who are you?"

"I'm Ryuk."

"Ryuk." He had a name, which is a good start. L tensed slightly in preparation for what was coming. He didn't know how this 'Ryuk' got past Watari, but that just meant he was good. "Are you behind me?"

The shinigami was tempted to roll his eyes. His plans for the night were botched yet again, but that didn't mean he couldn't make the best of this situation. Ryuk chuckled as he answered the gangly youth. "You know the answer to that. So just turn around already."

"Fine then." L turned around quickly in an attempt to catch the intruder off guard. Though, after seeing the towering monster he wished he hadn't. The eyes scared him the most. They were large and empty, just like the rest of the thing's black tangling form. L did the most rational thing that came to his mind. He yelped.

"What?" Light shot up in bed as he felt his arm being yanked by the chain and heard the shrieking inside of his ear. He was going to kill Ryuuzaki. That's all there was to it. "What the hell are you doing on the floor screaming, Ryuuzaki? What is wrong with you!"

"Light-kun?" L stopped screaming when Light started yelling at him. Something was amiss. L shifted his eyes to the giant stringy, laughing monster. Still there. Moving his eyes back to Light he came to another conclusion: Still angry and apparently not noticing the monster. Curious. "Um, Light…"

"He can't see me, so don't even bother telling him. Just make something up and tell him to go back to sleep."

L paused to consider the monster Ryuk's interruption. He might just have a point and things were just getting more curious by the second. And Light was getting angrier for every second that L stared at him without talking. That vein around his eye was going to pop soon. "It was nothing, Light-kun. I had a nightmare."

Light raised an eyebrow at the strange detective. Sure, he was a genius and Light respected him. But the guy was just too much sometimes. "A nightmare?"

"Yes. I do have them occasionally."

"Why were you sleeping on the floor next to my bed?" Light plopped his head into his hands, unaware of the chuckling Shinigami watching. "Don't you usually sleep on that couch on the other side?"

L blinked again. He wasn't aware that Light knew when he slept, let alone where. He should have known the boy was more observant than he gave him credit for. "Ah, I decided to have a change of pace?"

"Since when?"

L looked up from his spot on the floor at the eyes staring at him. Light's anger had subsided and now there was only annoyance. Well, that was good. L didn't want Light to be angry with him, even if he was Kira. "Since now, but clearly it didn't work too well. I'm sorry for waking you, Light-kun. I really was planning on trying to be good tonight."

Light smiled a little as the detective tried for a childish grin. It was probably the truth as Ryuuzaki usually did mean well. "Alright, but no more tonight. Okay? And let me sleep in tomorrow. Please? Misa's coming over first thing in the morning to do something or other and I'm really not in the mood to see her again on yet another night of over eventful nights…"

L chuckled a little to himself as his friend began to ramble. He seemed to do that when he was truly tired. He stopped when he realized the unexpected guest was laughing at Light, too. "Okay, okay. I understand. Goodnight, Light-kun."

Light paused when he caught himself rambling on. He really had to work on that in the future. "Goodnight, Ryuuzaki."

L let out a small breath as he pulled himself up off the floor. Light had already fallen face first into his pillow and was doing his best impression to ignore the world. L gave him another thirty minutes before he was completely out. In the meantime, he had other things to deal with that came in the form of a tall laughing _thing._

"Looks like he still gets cranky when he doesn't get enough sleep." Ryuk chuckled as Light buried his head further into the pillow to ignore the clinking chain as L moved back to his spot in his swirling chair. He'd have to wait for the kid to sleep before he could straighten things out with the new guy.

L sat and watched. This Ryuk wasn't as frightening once you had a good look at him. He looked more sickly than anything with his limbs stretched out and his face smashed in. And he seemed to be a curious bloke at that with the way he hovered about the room. The detective made note that the thing's eyes would often linger on Light in the bed. What could that mean?

As Light's breathing evened out and the boy rolled over, L attempted contact again. "You said your name is Ryuk?"

"Yup, that's me."

"And what are you exactly?"

"A _shinigami_, god of death."

"Shinigami?" It took all of L's control to keep his voice down with the exclamation. _L, did you know gods of death love apples?_

"Ha ha, that's true. We do. Or at least, I do." Ryuk chuckled.

L looked up. "Did I say that out loud?"

The shinigami tilted his head. "Yup."

"My, I am off my game tonight, aren't I?" L almost laughed. This was just too good and he couldn't keep the grin off of his face. He also had a craving for cake, but that would have to wait. "But it's not every day one meets a Shinigami."

Ryuk shrugged. He had to figure out some way to make this work before things got too far out of hand. Ryuk just hoped that the boredom that started this nonsense would be lifted. The sooner he got all this sorted out, the sooner he could get an apple. And maybe play Mario Cart. That would be fun, too.

"Why did you stop me from throwing the notebook?"

"What?" Ryuk looked down at Light's rival who was staring at him. And to think Light had called _him_ creepy.

"Answer the question." L narrowed his eyes. The surprise was over and it was time to take control of the situation. He groped at the table for anything with sugar in it. He was going to need the energy.

"Oh, if you touch the notebook you can see me." Ryuk huffed a little and wondered just how far he was going to get before breaking a rule.

L lifted an eyebrow. "And that would be bad?"

Ryuk didn't even hesitate with his "Yes." Because it was true. If Light got his hands back on that Death Note and found out that L knew about it than Ryuk was one dead Shinigami. Light was a genius and he would find a way to murder him even if Ryuk killed Light first. This shinigami was sure of _that_ much.

"Why?"

Ryuk laughed. "Take a guess."

L rolled his eyes. "You're not very cooperative, are you?"

"Nope." Ryuk laughed. "I'm not on your side."

L quirked a smile. Seems the shinigami liked to play games over collaboration. That was just fine by him. "Then who's side are you on?"

"Hyuk, hyuk. I'm not that easy."

"Should have figured as much." L leaned back into his chair and stared at the ceiling. Here he was having a conversation with a Shinigami in the middle of the night. "Were you here all week?"

Ryuk let out a weak laugh. He knew screwing with the kid's head with the blanket was a bit too much over the line. "Maybe."

"I'll take that as a yes." L looked over to the bed when Light shifted. All of the events had revolved around that boy one way or another. So that could only lead to one conclusion. "You were here to see Light? Why?"

Ryuk kept his mouth shut and decided that a change in topic would be very nice at the moment. "Don't you want to know about that notebook? It's yours now, after all."

L stored the abrupt change in conversation away for further exploration. But for now, he turned back to the notebook. "This is mine _now_? Who did it belong to before?"

"Not allowed to tell you that. Or about anyone else who owns one or ever did own one." Ryuk stretched a little with his hands over his head. He had a feeling he was going to get suckered into telling the brat things one way or another.

"There are rules, then?"

Ryuk's grin seemed to engulf the shinigami's face as he laughed. "You have no idea."

"Then tell me."

-----

Light woke up feeling refreshed for the first time in over a week, but choose to keep his eyes shut just a little longer in order to relish the feeling. He knew shortly that he'd have to crawl out of bed and face Ryuuzaki and discuss whatever madness they had experienced that night. Then he'd deal with Misa and then, maybe, _maybe_ then, he could do some real work on the damned Kira case. The fact that madman was still out on the prowl and loose drove Light crazy inside.

Opening his eyes to the dully painted wall, Light yawned into his arm and brushed his hair out of his eyes. Sitting up right and turning he nearly had a heart attack from the shock. "Ryuuzaki, are you okay?"

"Oh, Light-kun. Good morning." L looked up from his seat to see Light awake and seemingly puzzled. Not that he blamed the boy. This was probably the first time his friend at seen L sprawled out and leant back into a chair like a 'normal' person. Must be the exhaustion. Whether it was from the lack of sleep or the weight on his soul from the conversation with the shinigami last night, L didn't know. "Did you sleep well after that rude wake-up call last night?"

"Uh, yes. I guess." Light shifted over to L's side of the bed and put his feet over the side. L looked like he just killed somebody. "Are you sure you're okay? First nightmares, and now this um, unique posture?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I just haven't had my usual amount of sleep the past few days. I'm too tired to keep my legs up. That's all."

"Well, if you're sure." Something was definitely wrong with Ryuuzaki. "Maybe you should take it easy today, or something?"

"I just might do that." L pulled himself up for the chair for the morning routine of showering and dressing. Maybe a little normalcy might get some things off of his mind. "Thank-you for your concern, Light-kun."

"Of course." Light cracked a little smile. "We're friends."

Ryuk, in the meantime as the two boys walked towards the restroom now immersed in morning chatter, chuckled to himself. "This otta' be good."


	2. Chapter 2

It's 2:30 in the morning, I'm listening to the Avenue Q soundtrack and I'm tired at looking at this. With that in mind, forgive typos and thank-you for reading n' reviewing.

And fair warning: I love the Ryuk x Light thing in most any form from owner and pet -with either as master- to platonic friends. Don't be surprised if it shows up, but I'll try to keep them canon. I'm trying. XD

**Chapter 2**

"Are you sure you're alright, Ryuuzaki?" Light turned in his chair from the main control panel to look at the detective. While he was mostly looking at his own computer screen, his eyes kept jumping to look at different places in the room. Considering they were alone in the control room with the other members at lunch, save for Matsuda, it was even weirder than usual behavior for L. "You seem rather distracted."

Distracted was an understatement. There was a tall, gangly god of death hanging around the control room that provided a book of death and no one could neither see nor hear him. And he was currently hovering right behind Light-kun. It seemed to enjoy floating behind him; L didn't enjoy the thoughts that followed. Yes, it could be said that L was distracted. "I'm quite alright, Light-kun. I'm just tired. I think I may be coming down with a cold."

Light held his suspicion that something was up with his companion. He had not only been acting strange last night, but there was that issue of him being out of it this morning as well. It was so bad that despite Misa hovering for a few hours right after they got up he didn't say a word or blink. It was like he didn't notice she was there. Light wished he was also as lucky. However, there was no point in pressing the issue. It only lead to aggravation in attempting to argue with him. "Well, don't hesitate to stop working and take a break. I won't mind."

"Thank-you for your concern." L bit his thumb. Taking a break wouldn't do any good. He couldn't talk to the shinigami as long as Light-kun was around and that meant waiting until he was asleep. For now, he'd continue with observation and keep his brain working. This 'Death Note' was brining light to the Kira situation in ways that L couldn't have foreseen. This information was vital, but something was holding him back from sharing it with the team members. He snuck another glance at the shinigami behind Light; it was chuckling. "But I'm fine."

"You're sure."

"I'm sure, Light-kun." L tried to ignore the shinigami as it laughed and bit into his thumb. He needed proof that it wasn't just all inside of his head. That's what he needed. Proof he was real and then he could tell the others about it.

"Oi, you."

L twitched as the Ryuk started hailing him from across the room. He wished the thing wouldn't talk to him; it's not like he could reply. So he glared at the thing instead and willed it to leave him alone. No such luck.

Ryuk laughed as the detective started putting more sugar into his cup. He just kept piling it in there until the brown frothy liquid was overrun by the sweet crystals. Seems he wasn't the only one with a fix that needed to be filled. "I want apples."

L twitched. It was a demanding thing to boot. He'd been asking for apples since they got into the control room. L wondered if the thing realized he couldn't just go out and get them for him with people around to see. He was handcuffed to another person for goodness sake. "Notice anything new today, Light-kun? Like in the news reports?"

"Not really, it's all the same." Light sighed and clicked through the pages on the recent murders. Just like he did every day since L let him out of the cell. "No patterns, no leads, no nothing."

"Don't worry," Matsuda assured while bringing in yet another stack of documents from the other room. He had only heard the tale end of the conversation, but felt like giving his input in just the same. "I'm sure we'll catch a break soon. We just have to keep it up."

"I'm serious. I want an apple." Ryuk nearly pouted. He has asked the L kid for an apple the night before after explaining the Death Note, but he didn't get him one. Light always got him apples. Then again, Light also had a high sense of self-preservation. "Get apples."

L nearly growled to himself. The shinigami was starting to grate on his nerves with the constant begging and talking. L tried to reason in his head the consequences of ignoring it completely.

"I'm starting to get a little angry at being ignored." Ryuk chuckled. Threats were almost guaranteed to work – and most humans have should share Light's high self-preservation senses. They were just so amusing. "Or did you forget some of the other stuff I told you last night?"

_Oh, and I'll be the one to eventually write your name down and kill you. Shouldn't forget that part._ How could L possibly forget that little tidbit? It seems L had no choice but to cave to the terrorist demands. How bothersome. "Matsuda-san."

The younger man looked up from the documents he was sorting. He needed to make sure all the files were in the right spot this time. He didn't like it when Yagami-san was disappointed in him for misfiling. "Yes?"

"I think Light-kun is right." L bit his thumb and pouted. "I am feeling much more under the weather than I earlier predicted. I think I will take some time off."

"Okay." Matsuda smiled and nodded. "Everyone feels a little off sometimes, right?"

"That was a quick turn around, Ryuuzaki." Light stopped typing and stretched his hands over his head. He was glad that L was stopping to take care of himself. Maybe if they got all this feeling-off mess out of the way things could go back to normal. Or as normal as L got, anyway. "Though, I'm glad. I could tell that something was off."

"Yes," L stood and glared at the shinigami. He wished the stupid thing would stop smirking. "Matsuda, tell Watari and the other members that we've gone out for a bit. I think fresh air would help me greatly. Come, Light-kun."

"Hey, wait up." Light felt himself being dragged along by the chain as L hurried off to the backroom to grab a pair of shoes and make a bee-line for the elevator. "What's the rush?"

_A shinigami is chanting about apples behind your back while chuckling._ L frowned licked his teeth and scratched his head. "I'm a little edgy from feeling so out of sorts. I wish to get better as quickly as possible and get back to work."

"Okay, I guess. Not that I'm complaining about your new motivation, but." Light rubbed his wrist where the handcuff had pulled tightly. He then turned his attention to L, who's attention seemed to be glued to one spot in the corner of the elevator. It was almost like he was glaring at something. "Are you sure you're just feeling bad? You could be sick."

L narrowed his eyes. "I'm not sick."

"If you say so." Light shivered when he felt a small breeze go down his spine. He'd been getting chills all week and it was starting to worry him. Maybe he was catching a cold, too. At least he was getting enough sleep for a change. L seemed to have dropped his little adventures in boredom for the past week. But now he had this whole new quirk to deal with. He sighed as he turned to his fidgeting friend. "Where are we going?"

"The market."

"The market? For what?"

"Apples."

"Apples?"

"Apples!"

L nearly smacked his face when Ryuk added in his own delighted cheer at the sound of apples. He must really enjoy eating that fruit; L preferred strawberries himself. "Yes, apples. I've got a craving."

"Couldn't Watari get it like everything else?"

L sighed. Light was far too inquisitive for his own good sometimes. "The point of this is to get some fresh air, wouldn't that defeat the purpose?"

"You don't have to snap at me." Light frowned and tilted his head up while crossing his arms. "I know you might be sick, but that's no reason to be so irritable."

L rolled his eyes and let the other boy sulk. Light-kun could be such a brat when he wanted to be. The walk to the market down the street would have been pleasant, if not for the stares that the handcuffs acquired. Light-kun was looking mortified and it made L smirk; seems Light-kun had forgotten about them. That was all well enough and thankfully they reached the market with only embarrassment and a shinigami at their heels.

Though, it was odd. L noticed right away that despite Ryuk's claim that he was haunting _L_ that he usually floated behind Light-kun. It was just like when he first arrived, and now while walking through the market with a basket of apples he still stood behind the younger boy. In fact, he had been floating behind him in the office and everywhere else as well. He watched Light-kun rub his forearms briskly when Ryuk leaned over him to drool over the apples. Curious. There was a connection here, and L was going to find it out in detail.

"Is something wrong, Ryuuzaki?" Light turned up to L who was staring out into space. He looked over his shoulder to the spot, but all he saw was a sign that was advertising some bran flake cereal. He doubted that was what held the detective's interest.

"Nothing, Light-kun." L held a finger to his lip as he pulled a bag down and began to stack apples in it. As Ryuk changed 'More more,' he thought of the things he needed to get through once they got back to the room. Convince the others he was fine, get Light-kun to bed and interrogate a supernatural phenomenon with a craving for apples. What a fun evening.

-----

Light was curled up slightly into a ball as he slept on the wide bed. His breathing was steady and it was making a small airy noise. There was something amusing about knowing that his sleeping habits hadn't changed from when he was guilty to when he was not guilty of mass murder. The shinigami grinned. He really had found an interesting human to play with, hadn't he?

"Ryuk, I have some questions for you." L turned in his swivel chair to the shinigami. He was going to confirm his suspicions once and for all. And now that Light-kun had finally gone to sleep for the night, he had his chance.

But, his human wasn't the only interesting one around. "I thought as much." Ryuk chuckled and munched on one of the apples L had retrieved for him. Good thing the detective learned quickly or he'd have to kill him and give Light the Death Note back directly to get his fix. "Can't guarantee I'll answer." Ryuk drew a finger to his face and paused. "Unless it has to deal with the Death Note rules, then I can tell you for sure."

"That's fine." L tilted his head to the side in thought. That just meant he had to ask the right questions. This had the potential for fun. "Can you confirm whether or not something is true or false if I guess or make a statement without breaking a rule?"

"I suppose. Granted you didn't hear it from me, if you catch my drift." Ryuk took another chomp out of his apple. He hoped that was right, anyway. If Rem could tell Misa how to kill a shinigami, than he should be able to confirm what a human already figured out.

L lifted an eyebrow. _So, Ryuk has to answer to others. That's interesting._ "Deal. If I make a statement and it is correct hold up one finger. If it's false, hold up two. For questions, if you can't answer just hold up two fingers."

"Alright." This could prove amusing. Ryuk laughed and took a seat on the bed. Light's sleeping form leant slightly into the dip that the shinigami's weight created. Ryuk noticed that he mumbled a bit from the movement, but he stayed asleep. It was sort of cute. "But only because I'm bored."

L paused. The shinigami was doing it again: watching Light. L found himself biting his thumb again without his control. "And if possible, please avoid lying. I do not think that I could tell if you are or not."

Ryuk laughed outright and turned his attention back to the creepy detective. "Well, no promises."

"Then let us begin." L took in a deep breath and gathered his thoughts. There was one question he really wanted an answer to first. "Light Yagami was the previous owner of this death note."

Ryuk smirked and held up one finger. He should have known that was going to be his first question. Not only did the detective want to find out if he was correct, he also seemed to have a healthy interest in the young man.

"Light Yagami is Kira."

Two fingers and a chuckle. _Trick question._

L paused. Light used to own the Death Note, but he's not Kira? Something was wrong and L turned to look at the boy sleeping quietly on the bed. Still looking innocent as a new born babe, like he didn't have a care in the world right now. Now. Maybe that was it. The tense was wrong. "Light Yagami _was_ Kira."

_Boy's smart. Hyuk, hyuk. What fun!_ Ryuk held up one finger.

_So that's it. It makes sense; he doesn't have the notebook anymore._ L thought to himself. But that left other questions open. Why doesn't Light have the notebook now? Was this part of some plan? Did he know that the shinigami was going to bring it somehow? So many questions were filtering through his mind he could barely choose the next one. "How does one lose ownership of the notebook?"

Ryuk sighed. He knew they were going to have to get back to the boring rules stuff sooner or later. "The human can loser ownership of the Death Note in two ways. One: he can die, or two: give up his ownership."

"What does giving up ownership entail?" Now L was curious. What would cause someone to give up this sort of power? Other than a conscience of course, but he wasn't quite sure that Kira possessed one of those.

"The owner loses all memories of ever owning the Death Note, doing anything with the Death Note and if they made the Eye Trade they lose the power. So, it's like they never had it in the first place." Ryuk reached behind the stringy kid in the chair to grab another apple. His pile was quickly getting smaller; he'd have to learn how to slow down again. "That's about it."

"Light gave up the Death Note."

One finger.

"Amane Misa was the second Kira."

Another single finger.

"She too, gave up the Death Note."

Ryuk rolled his eyes and held up his one finger. He was tempted to start lying just to screw with his head. "I'm pretty sure you already knew that."

"I knew she was the second Kira, but not that she gave up the power." L stopped. Things were clicking into place like a puzzle and his eyes widened. "Light and Misa both gave up their powers while in confinement."

Ryuk was quickly getting bored of the finger game. "Take a guess."

"Yes." L quickly shifted his attention back to the bed and the sleeping figure. Light's breathing was steady even with the shinigami sitting so very close. "So, right now Light-kun has no idea that he is, nor ever was, Kira?"

"Exactly." Ryuk chuckled and took another bite of his apple. "Not a clue, can't even see me anymore."

L was right. He was right the whole time, but now things were complicated. Technically speaking, the Light-kun he knew right now was innocent. Which means that he was telling the truth when he said he wasn't Kira. But could that change? "What happens if Light gets the Death Note back?"

Ryuk thought for a moment. Is it breaking the rules to explain things when the owner already knows about the previous owner? He wished Rem was around –she'd know. But, he was just explaining how the Death Note worked, so he shouldn't get into trouble. He just needed to make sure to keep names out of it. "When someone who has given up the Death Note touches one that they used to own, they get all their memories back."

"So he could be Kira again, just by touching this?" L stared at the notebook sitting on his desk. That such a harmless looking object could have such power baffled him. L wouldn't deny that he was tempted to let Light touch the notebook, just so he could get into the boy's head and find out what he was thinking as Kira.

"Sort of." Ryuk shrugged. "He only has his memories while he's touching the book. If you take it back than he'll forget again. You only get to keep the memories if you recover ownership while holding the book."

L lifted an eye brow. "That seems like it would be difficult."

"Not as hard as you'd think." Ryuk shrugged. "He'd just have to kill you while holding the notebook. I'm sure if he was desperate enough he'd resort to other means to kill you than writing your name down."

"You know him quite well, don't you?" L held in his smile. The conversation was heading in a more casual direction. If that was the case, L might be able to get more information than he originally thought.

"I should. I was with him twenty-four hours a day for quite some time." Ryuk shifted so that he was sprawled out on his side and holding up his head with an arm. "You get to know a person when they're the only one you can talk to."

"That is true, and you do like to talk." L tilted his head.

"Which is why I'm still mad at you for that whole bugging his room thing. I couldn't talk to him or eat apples during that whole escapade." Ryuk snorted and threw his apple core into the trash bin. "It was a pain in the ass."

"Ah, so he did know he was being recorded." L grinned. "How'd he know that?"

"He suspected it, and I confirmed it." Ryuk shrugged. "It would be trouble if I got caught on camera and Light agreed."

"So you talked with Light often?"

"Light loves to talk." Ryuk chuckled. "But I'm sure you picked that up. He'd tell me all of his plans all the time."

L crooked a tiny smile. "I'd imagine so. He probably told you all of his secrets, too."

Ryuk laughed and suddenly stood up from the bed. The sudden absence of the weight caused the bed to bounce, but Light slept through it easily. "Don't think I'm going to tell you that sort of thing."

"Drat, I've been caught." L tilted his head. Seems that was all he was getting tonight, though there was one more thing he wanted to know. "Why are you here, anyway?"

"Guess there's no point in hiding it. I was bored with waiting for him." Ryuk looked down at the bed and his previous human pet. His mouth was hanging open just a crack as he breathed.

L laughed and had to hold his mouth to keep from accidentally waking the other boy. "Of course, this is Light-kun. He'd have to have some sort of plan to get that book back even with his memories gone. So you came to give it back to him as planned, did you?"

"Yes, I did intend for him to get it. But it wasn't part of _his_ plan." Ryuk scratched his head. He was going to take some heat for this when Light got the notebook back; he was sure of it. At least he could get some slack by reminding Light that he was going to kill him. "I kept dropping it next to him so he could wake up and get it. You just saw it before I could pick it up again. I hate that he's a heavy sleeper."

"So I'm a monkey wrench in the plan?"

"Sounds about it." Ryuk poked the detective in the heart. "So what are you going to do about it?"

"That is a good question." L leaned back in his chair. "I'm not sure."

"Well you've got some time." Ryuk stretched his arms over his head. He always hated it when humans slept. There was nothing to do.

The detective turned his attention to the sleeping figure on the bed. He kind of liked the idea of Light being innocent and keeping him that way. As long as he kept the boy away from a Death Note, than not only would the task force have peace of mind, but he could keep working with him. He had potential to be a great detective. Though, that did leave Misa. L stopped. If he had Light's old note book, who had Misa's? "Ryuk."

"What?"

"Does some one else have Misa's notebook right now?"

Ryuk shook his head and chuckled. Now that was too much information and he held up two fingers. "Not allowed to answer that one."

L studied the shinigami's face. It was twisted into an amused sneer like usual. But the chuckling hinted at something more serious. "I'm inclined to believe yes, considering that the murders are still occurring."

"So? What are you going to do?"

L smiled. "I'm going to catch Kira."

"Okay."

L opened the drawer where he had stashed the Death Note and held it in his hands. "And once I get his notebook, I'm going to make sure that Light-kun and Misa-chan can never get them again."

"Ahh." Ryuk licked his lips and grabbed one more apple for the night. He could always get more. He had plenty of time. "Humans are so interesting."

"And so are Shinigami." L added with a tiny smirk.

_Ryuk laughed._


	3. Chapter 3

I knew I wasn't going to last long without introducing my favorite DN character. Rem makes an apperance! Hurrah! Enjoy the next chapter.

**Chapter 3**

Rem usually had good intuition when things came down to it; 'twas part of being a woman after all. Didn't mean that she listened to it (If she had there would be none of this Light Yagami nonsense and she would have done everything in her power to keep Misa away from that boy.) but it was there. At the moment, it was telling her that things in the 'big plan' were off and breaking down. Not that this was a surprise to her by any means, but whether this was for the best or worst, Rem didn't know.

What she did know, is that humans are truly disgusting creatures. The shinigami rolled her eyes as she watched the greasy human scrawl down names on the notepad. He was smirking to himself like he was accomplishing some great feat. Rem didn't see what the big deal was; murder was easy.

"I still can't believe it's this easy." Higuchi chuckled as he wrote yet another name in the book in his quick scrawl. He looked up at the monitors again and looked for another criminal target; the news really made it too simple for him. "Though, it is a weird rule. Kill criminals and then you can do whatever you want with the notebook."

Rem merely shrugged. It wasn't her fault if he was too dumb to figure out that she had lied to him. She scratched her arm and watched a potted plant in the corner of the room. It wasn't something she'd expect this man would own. "So it is."

Higuchi sighed as he put the pen down onto the paper and stretched out his shoulders. "Can't be helped I guess." He looked back at the shinigami hovering behind his chair. It looked bored out of its mind and the constant lingering was starting to creep him out. "Do you really have to stay there the whole time?"

"Not much else to do, I guess." Rem frowned and turned back to the man who was frowning at her. She really wanted to go see how Misa was doing, but as Higuchi put it – 'Can't be helped.' "I'm supposed to haunt you, remember? It's a rule."

Higuchi huffed and frowned at the lanky thing. Her eyes were unnerving and accusing. There was something else there too, but Higuchi chose not to linger on it. "So you have to be with me twenty-four seven?"

Rem looked at the man with a slightly calculating look as if he was up to something. "Not really, I guess. But I am supposed to be here most of the time."

"Well, why don't you go fly off somewhere." Higuchi waved his arm behind him and turned back to the book. "I don't need a babysitter. I'll follow the rules."

_Babysitter?_ Rem huffed. She was a proud shinigami and she had somehow been reduced to _this. _Well, she could tell when she wasn't wanted. "Fine. I'll leave."

It briefly crossed Higuchi's mind that angering a god of death might not be in his best interest. But then again, he also felt the relief when the thing merged through the wall and left him alone. For now, he'd concentrate on his company and plans to take it all the way to the top instead of a looming monster. Nothing would stop Yotsuba, and once they ruled – he'd make sure to reap all of the benefits.

Rem, too, was more than happy to leave the human alone to his mutterings and knowing she wouldn't have to look at his ugly mug for a few hours. Not to mention she now had a chance to go see how Misa was doing. It's not like it was any of the Yagami boy's business if Rem decided to visit her favorite human. And for that boy's sake she had better be just fine. The white shinigami hovered quietly over the city as she headed for her destination of the tall office building serving as 'Kira Headquarters.' She had peaked in once or twice before the check up on things while Higuchi slept, but she never had time for an extended stay.

As she neared, however, her intuition began to kick in again and it was telling her that something was very, very off. Rem shoved those thoughts out of her head as she faded through the familiar wall to Misa's floor of the building and found the girl sleeping peacefully on her bed. Well, that didn't seem to be what was causing the trouble – which only meant one thing: It was that _boy_. Rem narrowed her eyes as she flew up through the ceiling to where Light was sleeping to find a very familiar face hovering in the room. But, he was better than nothing and she was a tad bored. "Ryuk."

"Oh shit."

"Hm?" L looked up from his computer at the shinigami. He turned slightly to see Light still asleep the way they had left him, so that couldn't have caused the shinigami to curse. Ryuk seemed to be staring at a corner of the room and looked like he'd seen a ghost. (Irony of the thought fully noted.) L munched on another bite of his cake while his new friend continued to gape at the wall. "Is something the matter, Ryuk?"

"Uh." The black shinigami froze. Too his front was a quickly becoming irate Rem and to his back was a curious detective who could not see the irate Rem. Ryuk wasn't quite sure how he was to go about this situation but he knew he'd have to think of something quickly.

Rem growled at Ryuk and restrained herself from grabbing the damned bastard. She didn't know much about Light's plan and how it was all supposed to work out later on down the line – but she was damned sure that his arch rival touching or seeing his notebook wasn't part of it. "What the hell are you doing? How come he can see you!"

"Ah, I can explain."

"Explain what?" L bit into his thumb as Ryuk started waving his arms. He was definitely looking at something. The detective quickly took a browse at the bed – Light was still fast asleep. Good, their conversation hadn't woken him yet. That would spoil all the fun.

"Nothing." Ryuk muttered off to his side and waved one of his gangly arms dismissively. "It's none of your business."

"The hell it's my business." Rem shouted with an edge of a growl on her voice. "So help me, if this affects Misa..."

"Misa'll be fine!" Ryuk held up his arms placatingly. There had to be some way out of this. Death World above he wished Light was awake and could think of something quick! Then Ryuk remembered that Light couldn't see either of them and was therefore useless. _Damn it!_

L frowned and reached for a strawberry. He'd taken the liberty to pick up a few boxes of strawberry cartons along with Ryuk's apples for his own sanity. That shinigami ate more apples in a week than L ate cake. The detective wondered how Light could have afforded to have kept that thing. "What's wrong with Misa?"

"I told you! None of your business!" Ryuk shouted over his back and the detective merely looked at him with a tilt of his head while sucking on a damn strawberry. Cocky brat.

Rem pointed at Light at the bed as she realized Ryuk was going to continue to give that black eyed human more attention than herself. This shinigami wanted answers and she was going to get them. "You've got ten seconds to explain whether that freak in the chair understands or not or I'm going to make sure that your fun ends _now._"

Ryuk stopped there when Rem started to threaten him. He followed her elongated finger to the boy on the bed who mumbled something and turned on his side to face the chaos. Interesting; the shinigami chuckled. "Even if you crush Misa in the process? You'd never do it."

Rem growled; Ryuk was supposed to be the stupid one. "Fine, you called my bluff. That doesn't mean you're off the hook. What's going on here?"

"What about you! Aren't you supposed to be with..." Ryuk stopped. Turning slowly he noticed that L was still staring at him with a rather large grin on his face. _Still creepy._ And Ryuk realized the close call he just had considering Ryuk almost said something he shouldn't have.

L turned his cute smile up a few notches. Ryuk looked trapped in a corner and that was just fine with the detective. Nervous people talked more; maybe it worked for shinigami, too. L found himself on the verge of chuckling as that hideous face started to form a frown. "Do go on, even if I don't know who you're talking to, a one sided conversation is better than none."

"Ryuuzaki?"

All three characters in the room stopped at the sleepy mumble that came from the bed. L turned to Light-kun as said boy rubbed the sleep from his eyes. The boy was glaring at him, it was a sleepy glare, but a glare none the less. "Yes, Light-kun?"

Light wished that for once he could just go to sleep and _stay_ asleep. But it seemed that Ryuuzaki's one week of peace was far too much to ask for. It was times like this he wished he _was_ Kira so he could kill that boy. Though, he really shouldn't linger on those thoughts for to long. Wasn't healthy. Speaking of healthy, neither was talking to the wall as in Ryuuzaki's case. "Who are you talking to?"

"Myself, Light-kun. Go to sleep." L chuckled now. Despite what he thought earlier, this would probably make things even more fun the way Ryuk was wincing.

"What do you mean yourself? You have got to be kidding me, Ryuuzaki. It is..." Light paused to look at his watch. God above he loved that thing; it was his only friend. "Four in the morning. Why are you doing this to me..."

Rem stared at the boy on the bed. There was something _very_ wrong with this situation. It was like he didn't notice her or Ryuk at all. One would think that he'd at least look in their direction or react in some way to their presence. In fact, there was something different about him all together, though she couldn't quite place what that it was. "Can he see us, Ryuk?"

"Ah," Ryuk gulped. It was times like this where he wished Light had explained the plan in full detail to Rem as well. He might have to do that later or face the wrath of a woman. Not pretty. "No."

Rem was shouting now. "He gave up the Death Note!?"

"Yes?"

"Than how is he going to protect Misa now!"

"Misa is fine! I've already told you that!"

"Why should I believe you!"

"What other choice do you have?"

L wished that the two shinigami (for he could only assume Ryuk was talking to another one) would hold their argument off until later. He was having a hard time trying to figure out the other half of a one-sided conversation while also making it look like he was paying attention to Light-kun. Who, by the way, was still complaining and yelling at L to go to bed in a half-asleep manner while waving his arms. Fun. "I'm weird, Light-kun. Just go to bed."

"...and I'd like to get some things done during the day and I can't do that on no sleep...wait. What?" Light paused. He was sure that Ryuuzaki had just admitted something odd. "You're what?"

"Weird."

"Oh."

"Do go back to sleep, I'll be quiet." L smiled while Light frowned at him. He was distrusting as ever. "I promise."

"I've heard that before."

L held his hands up and smiled while Ryuk continued to have his own shouting match in the background. The detective had the feeling he'd be summoning Watari to bring more apples soon. "Cross my heart and hope to die."

Light leant his head on his arm and leaned into the blankets as he looked at Ryuuzaki. The man was far too amused and Light was too tired to figure out why. At least the detective made his life interesting. "Don't say things like that."

L smiled. He hoped that when this entire Kira thing was behind them that Light-kun and him could be friends. Working with him was amusing. "You're too serious, Light-kun."

The brunette snorted and fell back into the blankets with a soft thud. He covered his eyes with his arms and bent one of his legs up. "I could have said the same thing about you a week or two ago."

"That may be true." L swirled his chair back to the desk and reached for more strawberries. Holding the bowl towards the bed, he made a peace offering as Light-kun still looked miffed. "Strawberry?"

Light pulled the blanket over his head and rolled into a ball. "I'm going back to bed."

"Good night, Light-kun." L used his fork to grab another berry out of the dish and bit into it. He had no intention of sharing it with Light-kun anyway. The juice slipped down his chin and he wiped it carefully before making note to watch Light's breathing; the moment he was asleep again he was going to have questions for Ryuk. But for now, he'd just have to wait for the two of them to finish and catch up on the conversation.

"Fine." Rem sighed. It seemed that if Ryuk felt that if they talked he'd break a rule or he wouldn't be so dead set about leaving this conversation for later. Or maybe he just didn't want that L kid to hear what they were talking about. In any case, he was off the hook for now. "We'll talk about this later. But if anything happens to Misa, you're dead. And I'll take that little brat down with you!"

"I got it! I got it!" Ryuk chuckled and held his arms up again. When Rem's shoulders relaxed just the slightest, he felt it safe enough to reach for an apple. That girl was far too tense. He took a large bite out of his scrumptious red apple as she faded through the wall and out of his hair for the night. He felt another pair of annoying eyes on him and he turned to that pale human face. "What are you looking at?"

Light's breathing had evened out and L was sure that if he talked quietly he'd be in the clear. "So who was that?"

"I already told you, none of your business."

"Yes, for the third time tonight." L smirked. "Was that the shinigami who followed Misa around while she had her Death Note?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Her name kept popping up in your conversation, and if you came to see how Light-kun was doing it goes to say that maybe Misa's shinigami might drop by as well?"

Ryuk huffed. "Follow Light's advice and go to bed."

"He never told me to go to bed, you know."

"Good for you." Ryuk snorted. "You act like I can tell you about it."

"I can't see how you're breaking a rule if I already know that it's a shinigami."

"Maybe I just don't feel like telling you." Ryuk took a few steps to loom over the kid at the desk. He may have been in his twenties, but for someone as old as Ryuk he was still a brat. Time to show him who's boss. "Remember, I don't have to tell you anything."

"Yes, of course." L pouted. Seems Ryuk was getting angry with him. Well, L wouldn't have gotten as far as he had if he didn't know when to stop pressing people's buttons. He'd get the information he wanted later. "Ah well."

Ryuk let out a sigh as the detective finally stopped interrogating him. He ate another apple for his nerves and took a seat on the bed as L started typing on the computer again. He seemed rather serious about finding that other Kira. Seems Ryuk would have to start making some plans before things got out of hand.

-----

"Hey, Ryuuzaki."

The detective looked up from his parfait when Light-kun started to wave him over to the computer screen. His eyes were scanning the screen actively and there was a cute little smile on the edge of his face. Seems that Light-kun found something. "What is it?"

"I think I've got a lead."

"Hmm?" L pulled his chair along the computer desk to see what had Light-kun so fixated. As he looked at the lists that the younger boy had pulled up his own face started to form a quirky smile. He hadn't given Light-kun enough credit, that was for sure. "There's a pattern."

"Yeah, and it coincides with the Yotsuba corporation sales." Light pointed at the screen and pressed a few keys. "They're filtered in with the criminal deaths, but there's definitely been a connection with those deaths and increases in sales and profits for the company."

"Which means that maybe Kira isn't so justice loving after all?" L was elated. He had thought things were going far too slowly in the case lately. This sort of a lead was just what they needed to get that freak. Though, L was concerned about how they were going to go about convicting him. L doubted that telling everyone about the Death Note and the attached shinigami was a good way to keep it _away_ from the inquisitive Light-kun.

"Ha, his greed is his undoing. How poetic."

"Indeed."

Ryuk, in the meantime, frowned down at the two happy humans. It seems he had given Rem too much credit in picking a smart Kira if he got caught so quickly. It was only a matter of time before the brainpower of those two geniuses found the new Kira and put him out of commission. Then L might do something really stupid and destroy the note books. Then Ryuk and Light would never have their fun. (No more Mario Golf!)

The way Ryuk looked at it, he had a few options to keep his fun going and get back his favorite human to pick on. He could either solve Light's problems the easy way and just kill everyone in the task force (it's not like Light's life was in danger so that whole extending his life-span shouldn't be a problem) and if he was worried about it – he'd con Rem into doing it. Or two, he tried to make L's life difficult so he could put off the capturing Kira thing and entertain himself and figure out something else in his new extended time. The second seemed like the more fun option, so he'd go with that.

"This is just what we needed, Light-kun." L smiled at his friend and bit into a koala cookie that had been scattered over the counter top. _This is just what I needed, too._

They were finally making some headway in the case. If things kept going this way than Light could prove his innocence easy and never be accused of being Kira again. Not that the detective had been doing that lately. Light didn't know if he should be comforted or not that Ryuuzaki had seemingly stopped accusing him. But he was too exited right now to really care. "So, where should we take it from here?"

"We monitor them in specific and keep track of deaths that revolve in the business world as well as the criminal." L reached for his coffee and sugar. "There's a good chance that the criminal deaths are just to hide the business successes."

"Light!"

"Oh no."

Ryuk couldn't help but chuckle as Light did his best to put a smile on his face as Misa dashed into the room with her arms wide open making a beeline straight for Light. He wasn't sure what was more amusing: Light's face when she tackled him into a hug and knocked L out of his chair or the fact that everyone moved out of her way without so much as a glance up. He snickered to himself as L picked himself up the floor and sat back in his chair with the biggest pout you'd ever seen.

"Hello Misa." Light breathed out as he tried to pry Misa's arms off of his neck. "How did the photo shoot go today?"

"It went fantastic!" Misa loosened her grip slightly and sat herself down on Light's knee. "Though, Matsui-kun still needs to get his act together as my manager. He was stuttering again today when Misa's friends came over to say hello."

"Sorry, Misa Misa-chan." Matsuda rubbed the back of his head and looked off to the side. How could she blame him? Some of the most famous models in Japan were talking to _him_. How could he not get nervous? "I just get so shy around all those famous people."

"It's okay! I know that you'll do better next time." Misa smiled sweetly and showed teeth when Matsui-kun started to blush. She then turned back to her favorite person in the whole world, who was frowning for some reason, and decided to switch topics. "But enough about Misa's day, how was yours?"

"We actually just hit a lead, Misa." Light cleared his throat. "If you don't mind, we'd like to keep investigating it further?"

"Oh! Is Misa in your way?" Misa pouted. The last thing she wanted was to be a burden, but she also hated being away from Light! She needed to figure out a compromise between these two extremes so that both she and Light could be happy together.

Light frowned trying to think of a way to handle this without crushing Misa's feelings. He wished he knew where this whole boyfriend thing came from. He could barely remember meeting her, let alone the reason for them to be dating. "You're not in the way, exactly."

"Light-kun is trying to say that you'd be more help if you stayed in your room and kept up your own work while we did ours." L took a bite out of his cake. It figured that the moment they had a decent lead in the Kira case that Misa would show up and bring Matsuda with her. He thought that combing their stupidity into a team might make an average intelligent being, but so far it just seemed to have merely doubled the idiocy. He really should have known better.

Misa matched Ryuuzaki's frown. She had a feeling that he was just trying to get rid of her, but Light was nodding, too. She let out a little huff and slid off of Light's lap. She'd figure out how to get Light to open up more like he used to if it killed her. "Alright, Misa'll be practicing in her room. Come on Matsui-kun! I'll help you practice, too."

Matsuda didn't think it was possible for his face to get any redder as the very pretty blonde smiled at him. "O..okay, Misa Misa-chan."

L smiled as Misa left and took Matsuda with her. Ah, now he could get back to business with Light-kun and back to putting that murderer behind bars. "So, how about we check through the older cases and see if there's any related deaths that we missed."

"Sounds good, Ryuuzaki."

-----

"You seem contemplative about something." L frowned at the shinigami sitting in the corner. Ryuk hadn't spoken a word since Light-kun went to sleep. That was odd considering he usually started chatting it up the moment that he could. Instead, he seemed to be content playing with Light's hair.

"Nothing." Ryuk lifted a few strands of the brunette hair and let it fall again. Light would never let him do this if he could see him. It almost made it more fun. "Just nothing to talk about."

"I see." L crawled his way over to the couch and settled into the seat. If Ryuk didn't want to talk; he wasn't going to complain. It was a good chance to catch up on some sleep and get his mind back into tip top shape. He was going to need it if he wanted to close this case quickly.

Ryuk stopped playing with Light's hair and stood up. He opened and stretched his wings before heading for the window. A good night's flight would clear his head and help him come up with something good to keep the fun going. The moon was full, all was at peace, and the breeze was calling.

Maybe he'd go pester Rem.


	4. Chapter 4

Eh, This chapter could have been better, but I'm tired of looking at it. All I know is the scene I've wanted to do since the first chapter is coming up in Chapter five so I do hope you'll stay tuned for that! Thanks so much for reading, reviewing and reading.

Oh, and just in case it seems otherwise – I do like Misa-chan. . She's one of my favorite characters.

**Chapter 4**

"You ever get the feeling someone's watching you, Ryuuzaki?"

It took a great deal of control to keep from dropping his fork as L turned to look at his fair-haired companion. He smiled inwardly as he spied Ryuk directly behind the boy, doing just in fact what Light has accused. Though now the gangly thing was laughing heartily as well at the irony. It almost brought a smile to his face, but then Light would think he was even weirder than he already was. L rubbed his bottom lip and smiled anyways. "Sometimes."

"It's weird." Light leant on his hand as he stared at the computer screen. He sniffed a bit and rubbed his nose before clicking through some data on the Yotsuba corporation. He had been getting chills lately, too. "And it's not even the feeling that a camera's watching you or something. I almost feel like some thing's breathing down my neck, but that's absurd because there's nothing there. Maybe I'm just catching your cold."

L nodded and gave a little hum along with the bite of cake off his fork. Ryuk was definitely close to doubling over in laughter at the human's ignorant words. That constant chuckling was almost starting to get annoying after hearing it so much in a week. "Maybe you're just tired."

"Could be," Light huffed and fell back into his seat as he continued sorting data. He was feeling the sting of having lots of clues and leads without any definite proof; overall he'd rather have someone stalking him. "Well, if Kira really is in Yotsuba than he must of only just recently started killing off people for his own gains. There doesn't seem to be any pattern at all in the older deaths."

_Because you were the one responsible for those._ L thought inwardly with a grimace. The more thought about it, the more natural it was that the killing pattern of Kira had changed because Kira himself was different. It also explained why it was so obvious when a second Kira appeared; Misa's methods were very different from that of Light-kun. L wondered if he could figure out who the killer was based on the pattern since one would believe that the pattern reflects ones personality. Sadly he could not share this theory without revealing he knows about the Death Note; ah sweet complications. It's what made life interesting. "He probably finally feels secure enough in his anonymity now to think he can get away with it."

Light nodded before turning off the computer screen, it was rounding four o'clock and he had promised Misa yesterday that he'd do something with her today. If he remembered correctly, the only thing they could get Ryuuzaki to agree with was going to a bakery for cake and coffee. Though, he did have a few things to finish up before he could leave; plus Misa hadn't arrived yet from her photo shoot so he still had time. "Mogi? Where did you put that stack of print outs Father was looking through? I wanted to check his notes over quickly before Misa arrived."

The larger member of the task force looked up from his desk at the hail from the young Yagami boy. It had amazed him how much that boy had changed from before he went into confinement; he was much more, youthful? That could possibly be a good term, though better not to dwell on things. Mogi stood up to find the requested stack of papers and handed them over with a slight nod.

Light nodded in return as thanks to the rather silent member of the team before picking up the top copy. He could see his father's scrawl in the margins and smiled at the detailed work; it was clear where he got his own detective skills from in the family. However, his work was not to last for long as Misa arrived right on schedule. Sadly, Light only managed to look through one or two pages; Ah well, Light was only skimming the pages anyway for later study. He'd just go through the rest before bed. "Hello, Misa."

"Hello Light!" Misa smiled brightly and adjusted her hands that were holding rather large shopping bags. Because her shoot had ended early, she had time to do a little shopping before her date with Light. She originally had wanted to run right over and have a longer date, but she knew that Light would have been upset to be disturbed at work. It made Misa sad that she didn't get extra time with Light, but at least now she had a super-cute outfit to wear on their date. "Are you ready for our date?"

"Yes, though it's not a date, Misa." Light smiled indifferently while staring at the bags. Granted, it was odd to see Misa by herself. "What happened to Matsui?"

"Oh! He's back home or something. Misa got out of her shoot early and I didn't want him to get bored while I shopped." The bubbling blonde lifted her bags as proof of her adventures in the mall. "He said that he's going to stop by the police station to see how things are going before heading back over."

"Ah, okay." Light sighed and licked his lips. At least Matsuda was at the police station; though Light doubted Misa did anything. He still couldn't believe that _she_ was the second Kira. It just didn't seem possible. "Alright, are you ready to go then?"

With a bright smile showing off her pink lipstick, Misa turned for the elevator. It wouldn't take too long to change into her new outfit. "Misa will be ready to go in just a few minutes!"

L sucked on his fork while he tried to ignore the blonde with her crinkling bags. He still hadn't figured out why Light-kun agreed to this date in the first place. It's not like Light-kun had any interest in the bubbling blonde. Regardless, due to the handcuffs if Light-kun went out than L had to follow. He wondered briefly if this is how Ryuk feels being forced to follow someone else around all the time. "Due hurry, Misa-chan. We do need to finish up some work after our outing."

Misa stopped in the doorway of the elevator and turned around with an angry pout on her face. She hadn't liked that tone of voice one bit! That Ryuuzaki was always trying to get between her and Light-kun! There was some other reason she disliked him; but she couldn't remember what it was exactly. "Well it's not like you have to come!"

"Oh, but I do." L smiled and rattled the chain for effort; Light-kun smacked his head at the intentional jab at the girl and Ryuk snickered on as usual.

Misa frowned and caught the elevator door with the back of her foot to keep it from leaving her. The last thing she needed was to have to wait for the elevator to come back to the floor. "You could always take them off and let Light-kun and me be alone for once."

"Ah, but you're both suspects aren't you?" L put on his cute smile complete with head tilt and thumb biting. "What type of detective leaves suspects alone together to plot and plan?"

_Ha ha, more like ex-suspects, right?_ Ryuk laughed at the chaos. Misa always managed to make things fun for everyone. He hadn't sat in on one of their three-some dates before; so it should be fun regardless.

L ignored the shinigami; it was obvious that he was teasing. "So as you can see, Misa-chan. It just can't be helped."

"Well than you'll just have to deal with our long lovey-dovey date, won't you pervert?" Misa stuck out her tongue and stepped back into the elevator. Maybe she wouldn't wear her new dress, it was far too good looking on her to let _that_ pervert see her in it. That sort of thing was now for Light-kun only. With that in mind, Misa headed to her floor to change into a more modest outfit and prepare to enjoy one of her few dates with the love of her life.

"You really don't need to be so mean about the teasing, Ryuuzaki." Light scolded after the doors closed and the blonde was out of sight. The other team members were choosing to ignore the two boys for the moment so Light spoke his mind. "I know she's annoying, but she means well and she is stuck here with not much else to do than work."

"I hardly would call posing for a camera and answering fans work, Light-kun." L frowned. His friend was still frowning at him; L let out a long heartfelt, pained sigh. "I wasn't mean."

_Yes you were._

"Yes you were."

L's eyes snapped up when he heard Light repeat what Ryuk had said. They were either very alike, or Ryuk was predicting what Light would say. Either way it was probably a game of some sort to the shinigami or he wouldn't have spoken. "Maybe a little, but please how else will I keep myself entertained why you two stare dreamily into each other's eyes?"

"Shut up, Ryuuzaki." Light shoved himself away from his desk and stood. Misa would be too excited (and possibly spitefully angry) to make them wait long so he headed for his coat. It would serve L right to force him out of his chair and follow along. "Let's get going, she'll be down soon. Besides, don't you like cake?"

"Yes, I do enjoy cake." L sighed and got out of his chair to follow the marching brunette. Closely behind him followed the giant spindly black thing. L did have to admit, it'd only been a week or two, but he was no more used to having that thing around than he did the first night he showed up. L couldn't even begin to contemplate how Light-kun managed to put up with it following him around all the while. Though, he could relate when he was dragged out the door by his handcuffed friend and his self-declared girlfriend off to who knows where.

L found himself thinking about Light-kun and the shinigami during the entire date as he purposefully ignored the other two in order to maintain some sort of peace with Misa-chan. Did Light-kun feel uncomfortable around Ryuk? Or did he ignore him? Or did he feel comfortable around the demon, for that's what a god of death had to be, because he could be himself as Kira around him? L found himself wanting to ask a million questions about his friend that he knew the shinigami would never answer, and nor was Light-kun even capable. It was an interesting feeling, to be sure. L, himself, did not enjoy Ryuk's company (even as much fun as it was to poke and bait at) and could understand why Light-kun received chills just being around it. Sure, L teased and played along, but there was something evil about Ryuk and he couldn't help but feel that maybe he pushed Light-kun along in his Kira endeavors.

L was sure that Ryuk was smarter than he looked. He acted dumb, he looked dumb, and sometimes L was pretty sure that he dumber than Matsuda – but there were times. Just a glance here, a well placed snicker, that told the detective he was far more on the ball than he looked. He was a good actor; maybe that was it. A trait that Light and this shinigami shared that could give them a bond for comfortable company.

"Ryuuzaki?" Light snapped his fingers in front of the zoning detective. When he snapped his head back to face him, Light chuckled. The man had barely even finished his cake, he had been so deep in thought. His eyes were wide and Light was surprised he had caught him off guard; it made him seem more human and Light started smiling. "We're ready to leave now."

"Oh, sorry. I got lost in my thoughts." L smiled and stuck his thumb on his bottom lip before looking down at his unfinished cake; what a waste. L pointed down at the cake and grinned sheepishly at his two friends. "Can I get a box for this?"

"Of course." Light chuckled lightly. "Though I am surprised you zoned on us."

"That's okay if he did." Misa smiled as she stood up to round the small café table to latch onto Light's arm. Things had been going so well before Light decided to bring Ryuuzaki back into the world of the living; they really should have left him at the table and enjoyed their day. "It was nice because we barely noticed you were there. We got to spend some nice time together for once, isn't that right Light?"

"Ah, yes. Misa." Light waved over one of the waitresses and asked politely for a box. The young lady blushed and the young man could feel Misa's jealousy vibrating off her. A little voice in his head told him to appease the blonde before the waitress found herself in a back alley beat to a pulp. He struck up a conversation with the girl and instantly distracted her attention; sometimes it was a good thing that she was easily distracted. Thankfully, by the time the short conversation was over, Ryuuzaki had boxed his cake and looked ready to leave. Light stood up noting when Ryuuzaki followed shortly. "Shall we back to the office then?"

_Spaced out a bit there, didn't ya?_ Ryuk chuckled and was met with a very unfriendly glare as the detective trailed behind the two ex-Kiras. Ah well, at least he had some fun watching Light and Misa interact in a setting that didn't involve murder and death notes. They were kind of cute together, even if Light was reluctant. Though, he did notice that unlike Light who is more personable without the Death Note, Misa hadn't changed a single bit. She was still the same girl who had begged Light to be her boyfriend in exchange for being used and clinging on his arm. However, one thing was still missing from the picture in front of him. _Pick up some apples on our way back._

L sighed as he yanked the chain between him and Light-kun as they walked passed a fruit cart that had the shinigami drooling. L merely motioned to the stand and instantly his friend knew what was up; he'd have to after many a late night midnight run for the delicate fruit. Light-kun looked at him and the apples in turn before rubbing his temples.

"Ryuuzaki, can't you just have one addiction? I'm glad this new one is healthier, but this is getting ridiculous."

"But they're so tasty; don't you have a food you just have to have around?"

"Not really, no."

L shrugged cutely and grinned as Misa started complaining in Light's ear. Just another day at the office not getting any work done. They were going to be up all night at this rate. Ah well, it just meant him and Ryuk would get to have another long chat. Besides, L had quite a bit more information than anyone knew about; it was good to be a few steps ahead. It made him feel like they were getting more accomplished. "It'll only take a moment."

"You are so weird."

"It's because he's a pervert!"

"Misa!"

"Well he is!"

L rolled his eyes; sometimes he hated being the oldest.

-----

"I'm surprised by you."

L paused in his strawberry, scrumptious cake as the demon loomed over his chair. The shinigami had been staring at him since Light finally went to sleep (Said boy was still clutching the folder of papers he had been reading when he fell asleep thanks to Misa's outing.) but now he was looking directly at L with those large, empty eyes. L had told himself not to be bothered by the stare, but now that he had spoken L was unsure what he had up his sleeves. Ryuk was abnormally focused on his presence tonight. "Surprised by what?"

"Most people would have tried it by now." Ryuk snickered. True, he was trying to stir things up, but he was curious at L's willpower. It only took Light a day or two to test the thing before going crazy with the book once he figured out it was the real deal; L had it for more than a week and still just took his word that it worked. What fun was that? "Otherwise how would you even know it was real?"

"A shinigami is more than enough proof that it's valid. A test is not necessary."

"Really now? That so." Ryuk took a seat on the bed in front of the detective; he could hear Light's heartbeat behind him. He turned down to watch the sleeping face of the young boy while talking to L. "Well, even if you don't need proof – you're not the least bit curious?"

L took another bite from his cake as his own humor died down for the slightly more serious conversation. The shinigami seemed up for a chat tonight; maybe he could find out some information that he wanted. "Did you do this to Light-kun as well?"

"Did what?"

"Egg him on to use the book?" L became confused at the sudden howl of laughter that came from the shinigami. It wasn't his usual chuckling either, this was something far more amused. "What's so funny?"

Ryuk took a moment to control his laughter before continuing. His voice was deathly serious when he continued. "Light had already filled two pages worth of names before I even met him."

"Did he now." L placed his fork down on the plate. So much for his 'the shinigami's to blame' theory. It was still baffling how the justice loving boy he'd spent so much time with could be capable of such atrocities and murder. Well, the justice loving boy he knows now, before the confinement L had no problem believing that the egotistical Yagami boy was hiding something and more than capable of being Kira. But now that he was free of the Death Note and Kira; L got to see the untouched Light-kun. L found himself opening the drawer before he could help it and staring at the black note. Did the ability to kill without consequence really effect a person that much?

"Yup, went on and on about justice and creating a new world." Ryuk chuckled as the boy ran his fingers along the spine of the book. Interesting. "You should have seen his face when he found out there was no consequence for using that thing. Well, other than the me killing him part anyway."

L placed his palm flat on the cover before turning around. His fowl mood was increasing horrendously as Ryuk chuckled at that last little tidbit. It was hard to tell if he liked Light-kun or not petting his hair one minute and talking about killing him the next. "You're awfully chatty about Light-kun as Kira tonight."

Ryuk shrugged and spread out length ways on the bed so that he was back to back with Light before reaching for an apple on the nightstand. He could hear the boy snuggle deeper into his blankets with a mumbled word or two and the crinkling of paper. He crunched down on an apple and licked the juice that dribbled down his chin. "I guess. But I haven't said anything you hadn't guessed before."

"True enough. It's fairly obvious from Kira's actions that he thought he was creating a new world order." L glared at the book before shoving it back into the desk. The longer it was out in the open, the more he was tempted to use the evil thing. There was a drawing power to that book that just needed to be dropped from this world. He would have burned it already, but he had a feeling that Ryuk would be angry about that tactic; for now L would have to be patient. Besides, he might actually need the thing; the detective was not above using dirty tactics to get what he wanted. "Good night, Ryuk."

"Oh? Bit early for you ain't it?"

L cocked a crooked smile. Until he could rid himself of it though, best to make the twisting feeling in his stomach disappear with teasing. It always worked on Misa-chan. "What? Miss my company already?"

"You wish." Ryuk laughed and sprawled out on his back while the detective settled into his chair like a bird would. That whole sleeping with his eyes open thing that he did was creepy as hell. And would make things really difficult for what Ryuk was planning; he just needed a surefire way to know if the detective was really asleep or not. The shinigami chuckled at the fun he was going to have once he could make his move.

-----

"Matsuda is at Yotsuba?"

"Yes, it seems he's gotten himself into a bit of trouble. Light-kun, I need you to tell Misa-chan to go over there and help him out. Tell her she's auditioning to be Yotsuba's new spokesperson." L frowned as he clicked away on his computer and listened for Light-kun to follow his instructions. To think that Matsuda would go and do something this stupid just because he might have hinted the boy was useless. L tried not to feel guilty about it being his fault for belittling the man, but Matsuda really should have known better!

"Misa, it's Light." Light covered his other ear to block out the noise from the office. He had no doubts that Misa would do as requested. As worried as he was for Matsuda, Light was also excited that they had an entryway into the Yotsuba corporation; this was the lead that they needed!

L could hear the squeal from across the room as she received her boyfriend's call. It almost covered up the continuous chuckling that was coming from the shinigami listening in on the conversations. Ryuk had been having a blast since he heard about Matsuda's little spy work gone bad. He must know something that L didn't; maybe it was this other shinigami that he had been talking to. As Light-kun clicked off his cell phone, L turned to face him and the rest of the force. "What did she say?"

"She's headed over there now to save him." Light kept his phone in his hand on the off chance that Misa needed to call back for help. "She knows what to do."

"Good, I have no doubt that she'll be able to pull this off. She is a good actor despite her other faults."

"Ryuuzaki."

"Yes, yes. I know, Light-kun." L frowned and pulled back from his chair. "Now all we can do is wait."

Light had been trying to cover as much information about Yotsuba corporation as he could in the meantime. Whatever information Matsuda brought back, he needed to be able to fill in any gaps or holes in the story. Everyone was tense while they waited for the young officer to return with Misa, but they somehow managed to keep it together. Thankfully, Matsuda and Misa came into the office victorious in that they were both alive and now holding a contract to do work for the Yotsuba corporation.

"Oh Light!" Misa ran over to her boyfriend and hugged his arm. She was so glad to see him right now; especially after her time at the office. "Did Misa do good?"

"Yes, Misa." Light nodded and pat her arm. "You did very good."

"Yay! Misa was praised by Light!" And knowing what she knew now, that praise meant even ten times as much. It had been a scary event to be pulled over by a monster in a restroom, but now that she knew the truth about Light-kun and Kira things were going to be fine. The white shinigami, Rem, couldn't have been too much of a monster if she'd warn Misa about the danger in Yotsuba and about Light as Kira. But Misa wouldn't tell a soul because that would definitely get in the way of what Light was planning! That was for sure. She'd have to thank the other later. "That makes me so very happy."

"I'm glad." Light was close to shocked at how happy the girl was considering how close to death or slipping up she had been. He almost wondered what had caused such an amazingly good mood; surly it couldn't have been that one little word of praise. She didn't like him _that_ much did she?

"You're sure of that?" L questioned the ignorant officer; he had wanted to listen in on Misa and Light's conversation but he had just made the declaration that Matsuda overheard the main board of Yotsuba discussing Kira and who they would kill next. If that was the case, than someone on that board held a Death Note and had a shinigami.

Matsuda nodded fiercely. He had never been so frightened in his life, but he had managed to do something useful! He had such a weird adrenaline rush right now that he wasn't sure if he was going to pass out or leap for joy. "Yeah, I listened in outside of their door during a meeting and I'm positive of it! They definitely mentioned killing and Kira!"

L was ecstatic inside; this meant that one of those eight had the Death Note. Finding a notebook out of eight was far easier than the entire corporation. He'd have to contact Aiber and Wedy to make this easier. The faster he could get that note, the faster he could save Light-kun and Misa-chan from ever turning into Kira again. "Well then, since you overheard they're clearly going to want you out of the picture even if they did let you off the hook for now."

"Oh, yeah." Matsuda frowned again. He had to tell himself it was worth it though; a good cop put his life on the line for his job.

L smiled slowly as he watched the other man worry. "Thankfully, they can't kill a dead man."

"Huh?"

-----

The white shinigami sighed as she sat on the roof. Higuchi had long since gone to bed after that party of his and the stunt with that one drunk idiot who had been caught outside the office falling off the balcony. She was sure that it was planned out by the others, but she had been too busy following Higuchi and keeping her eyes on Misa to really bother checking it out. The girl had done a remarkable job of ignoring her at the party, despite being able to see her.

Rem knew it had probably been a bad idea to reveal herself to Misa with a tiny piece of the Death Note, but she didn't trust Light and decided to take the girl's safety into her own hands. So, she did what she thought was best and cornered the girl in the restroom; she had been terrified at first but the moment Rem brought up Light-kun the girl had calmed immediately. Part of Rem regretted the decision, but she knew that it was probably a move for the best. Higuchi was unpredictable when it came to matters that didn't involve greed or money so it was important that Misa knew not to cross him. At least she didn't tell Misa which man had the death note, if she was wary of all of them it might get her to stay away. Though, Rem had the feeling eventually she'd have to tell her which one had the note one way or another.

The shinigami tried not be jealous, but it was proving futile as she sulked on the rooftop. However, Rem lifted an eyebrow as Ryuk shifted up through the floor behind her. As the large shinigami hovered behind her, she finally acknowledged his presence. "Do you need something?"

"Nope, just bored." Ryuk chuckled at the moody shinigami. There was something eating at her tonight for sure. "What about you?"

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not. And don't think I didn't notice, either."

Rem turned to face him with a scowl. "Notice what?"

"That you and Misa made eye contact at that party when the dumb guy pretended to kill himself." Ryuk chuckled. If he was good at anything, it was observing. "Now I wonder how she managed to do that?"

"Like you don't know the answer to that." Rem stood up and spread her wings out. She didn't need to deal with him right now. He was as bad as the Yagami boy. "And it's none of your business."

"What'd you tell her that was so important to reveal yourself to her?"

"Why do you care?"

Ryuk chuckled darkly. "I've got something fun planned that'll make things turn out in our favor."

"And what could we possible have in common that work out in both of our favors?"

"Well, it'll make things more interesting for me and I'm pretty sure it'll make Misa-chan very happy."

Rem knew it was dumb, but she found herself listening. The least she could do was hear him out; or truthfully at the very least find out what Ryuk was up to. Because that could never be a good thing if he was behind it. "And what would that be exactly?"

"Well, it goes like this..."


	5. Chapter 5

Short chapter; but that's okay. The scene that I wanted to write from the moment I started this fic finally made it's appearance. I'll give you a hint – it's the last scene.

Thanks for reading and reviewing! I'll try to keep up with this one, but _Death Eraser_ wants my attention.

**Chapter 5**

"I hate to admit it, but that Aiber and Wedy are amazing." Light whistled at he stared at the monitor. Before him on the wide screen was a table of eight men bickering back and forth over who they were going to kill next. It was disgusting on a level he didn't think possible, but he kept watching the screen anyway. Part of his brain was wondering how they could be so stupid about the whole thing. It would make more sense to keep something like the ability to kill to oneself; unless of course this new Kira was so stupid that his coworkers figured out he was one of them. So they were dealing with an idiot Kira and a bunch of really smart business men. Wonderful. "They got all those cameras set up in less than a day."

L nodded with a smile. He made sure that each and everyone one of their homes was going to be bugged to the max; if one of the Yotsuba board members had a Death Note he'd be sure to catch them in the act. Best of all, he'd be the only one who knew what they were looking for. If he found them early, he could find some way to have them arrested without getting the notebook involved in the official investigation. It wasn't too difficult to manipulate the evidence to incriminate someone in other ways; the benefits of being a genius on a mission. And, that way, Light-kun and Misa-chan would be safe from those horrible notebooks. "And sometime next week, Aiber will be starting that con job we talked about."

Light turned his head away from the monitor to his friend. Despite the suspects on the screen, he still insisted that they remained handcuffed to one another. Light couldn't understand why, but he had learned that arguing with the detective was pointless. He rubbed his watch to clean off the face so that it was free from smudges. It was nearing three o'clock and Light was getting a bit hungry. "Where he pretends to be you?"

"Yes."

"You think that'll work?"

"It'll shake them up at the very least. If any one of them knows which of the eight is Kira, than it might get him to spill."

"I'll take your word for it." Light sat down at the desk and opened up a profile list of the eight members. If they each handled different functions of the company, than maybe Kira was benefiting his section more than the others. "I'm going to do a little research."

"Alright, Light-kun." L nodded as the younger boy started flipping through the profiles Aiber and Wedy had collected for him. Ryuk, for once, was keeping quiet and staring intently at the screen. The shinigami's eyes were scanning it up and down looking at the individual people. He was looking for something. L's eyes widened. Of course! Ryuk could see other shinigami which meant that he could see Kira's shinigami. Ryuk knew which one was the new Kira. L narrowed his eyes when Ryuk started laughing. Looks like he found him. But there was one problem: It was doubtful Ryuk would give out the information that easily.

L wondered how many apples it would take to get Ryuk to break a rule of his. Every human had their price, so why not a shinigami? The thought almost made L smile; the very idea of bribing something like a god with something so mundane as an apple was entertaining.

"Ryuuzaki, something up?" Light raised an eyebrow at the smirking detective. Light could feel his own smile creeping onto his face. It was true: smiles were contagious. Especially since Ryuuzaki didn't smile very often of his own accord. "You look amused."

"Just excited about being so close to catching the felon, Light-kun." L looked up at Ryuk just behind Light and motioned to his eyes with the screen. Ryuk snorted and mumbled an amused _Not a chance_.

"Okay." L was definitely being weirder than usual. Light sighed to himself. He never knew how to handle the the other man. He chuckled a bit though; it was still sort of nice to see L so happy. Maybe after this whole Kira nonsense was over they could work on this odd friendship. "I guess I am. too. Once we catch him I'll be able to clear my name."

"Yes, yes you will." L smiled at his friend who was now sporting a grin on his own face. Friend. L wanted to keep things that way. _More than you'll ever know, Light-kun._

"Hey guys!" Matsuda shouted as he entered the room. He was still a little stiff from being cooped up in the headquarters twenty-four seven (It wasn't good for a dead man to be spotted running around...or so he was told.), but he was handling it okay. "Wedy said that she just finished bugging three of the Yotusba CEO's homes."

"Yes, that's good. Thank-you." L sighed. He knew when she was done when she e-mailed him twenty minutes ago, but the least he could do was humor Matsuda. Otherwise the man sulked, and considering he now looked like a puppy given a treat, L decided it was for the best. "Is there anything else?"

"She said she'll be done with the others by tomorrow morning." Matsuda nodded. "If you guys need anything else I'll be with Chief Yagami going over some files he printed out."

"Thank-you, Matsuda." Light nodded as the perky man left. Seemed everyone was in a good mood. But now, they didn't have much to do until Wedy finished hooking up the cameras. And he was having an odd craving all of a sudden.

A craving that probably had nothing to do with the shinigami that he could not see nor hear that was chanting 'apples' in his ear now that he'd located which human Rem was haunting. He was a smarmy looking man with his spiky hair and beady eyes. The shinigami couldn't help but bring Rem's judgement under question but ignored it; this just made things more fun. Though, Ryuk hoped he could get through to the kid's subconscious with his constant pestering for apples. Because that L brat was ignoring him again.

However, Light merely stopped typing and tilted his head before speaking to the creepy detective. "Say, Ryuuzaki."

L looked up from his personal computer monitor that he had been reading bios from as a review when the young man called him. It was unusual for Light-kun to start a conversation so casually; not that L minded. "Yes, Light-kun?"

"I'm in the mood for apple pie."

L blinked. That was an odd request. "I was under the impression that Light-kun did not like sweets."

"Apple pie isn't sweet unless you add extra sugar." Light smiled at L's stunned expression. It wasn't often he'd get to see that sort of face. "Since we're just sitting around waiting, why don't we get a slice?"

"Okay. That sounds alright." L nearly laughed. Ryuk was pouting horribly behind Light. Seems his subliminal chanting only worked half-way. "Let's get some pie."

-----

Misa was bored.

The only work she'd be able to do lately was work on that commercial with her new manager, Mogi, for those bad men at Yotsuba. While it did mean she was getting paid and even more famous, she still wasn't doing much to help Light and the others. Holding the cover they had created when Matsui-kun got into trouble is only helping things out so much. She really wanted to be of more use! It's not like she was an idiot; Misa was capable of doing lots of things. Like find out who this new Kira was! If Misa could do that than Light should be really happy with her.

Misa sat up from her position laid out on her own bed with a new fiery determination. The only way she could find out more is if she went to Yotsuba herself and talked to Rem again. Maybe the shinigami could help her and that way she could trick the man into giving himself up. Misa used to be the second Kira according to Rem, didn't she? That meant she could figure this out no problem!

Though, she probably needed to double check her plan with Light first. As Kira, he was sure to have a plan in motion already. It probably wouldn't be a good thing if she messed that up; he might get angry with her. But, if what Rem said is right, than Light doesn't remember being Kira in the first place. That on it's own could cause problems...unless it was part of Light's plan in the first place. Sometimes her boyfriend could be too confusing! Misa plopped back onto the bed. She was back where she started.

The young blonde blew some hair out of her face. Maybe she'd just go to Light and ask him in person what he wanted her to do, be it directly Kira related or not. Assuming that Ryuuzaki let her see him! That detective seemed to enjoy keeping her Light away from her and Misa didn't like it one tiny bit! At least now after thinking about it she knew just _why_ she never did like the detective very much. He was L. L was Kira's enemy. If Misa used to be a Kira, than that made him her enemy, too. But more importantly, it meant L was Light's enemy, too.

When it came down to it, Misa had to protect Light from not only the Yotsuba Kira, but she also had to watch his back when it came to Ryuuzaki. Misa had to be extra careful not to let anything slip to let him know that she had met Rem or knew about the original Kira. On the off chance him remaining in the dark about everything was part of his plans, that would only cause trouble. She'd never forgive herself if she hurt Light's plans like that!

With that in mind, Misa decided that tomorrow she'd ask Light what she could do to help the investigation. That way she was being productive without letting Ryuuzaki know anything. After all, she wasn't doing anything more than helping out her boyfriend, right?

-----

L stretched his arms over his head contently as he and Light sat together in their living room. Misa was napping in her room, he had pie in his stomach and Light was sitting to his side reading something not-Kira related for the first time in ages. From the cover, it looked to be an interesting fiction novel about murder; L noted it was not a mystery. When you added in that Wedy only had one house left to bug, it was obvious where L's good mood was coming from. Not even Ryuk pouting in the corner from not getting any apples could ruin it.

"You seem to be in good spirits, Ryuuzaki." Light noted without taking his eyes away from the book. The author had a knack for describing the mind of a serial killer that was eerily hitting home for some reason. But even if it made him uncomfortable, he couldn't seem to make himself stop reading. "Was going out for pie the icing on the cake for your excitement earlier?"

"Something like that, Light-kun." L stuck his thumb on the corner of his mouth and leaned over Light's shoulder. "I do not believe I've read that one. Is it any good?"

"So far." Light looked up after the chapter was finished. He held his place using his index finger when he sat the book on his lap. Light chuckled. "It's much better than the mystery books this author has written because you know who the killer is from the first page. Which means that there can't be any disappointment when I figure out the killer too soon."

"Light-kun is sure of his deductive abilities." L smirked when Light frowned. It was far too much fun to tease his ego. "I'm sure he always guesses before they reveal it in mystery novels."

"Not always." Light snorted. "But for this particular author anybody can figure it out."

"If his writing is that poor, than why does Light-kun continue to read his books?"

Light rolled his eyes. "Is it a crime to try out his other genre to see if there's a difference?"

"No, of course not." L smiled as Light sunk into the couch. "So, what's it about?"

"A killer who thinks his murder is justified because he only kills bad people." Light looked up at the ceiling as he tried to remember some of the earlier events in the book. Not that he'd admit it to L, but he was only half paying attention while he read most of it. The only parts that were interesting were the psychopath's internal monologues. "He's confused at why the police are looking for him and want to arrest him. That confusion turns to anger and that's about how far I've gotten."

L blinked. "That sounds rather familiar if you don't mind me saying."

"Yeah," Light chuckled lightly and rubbed under his nose with his free hand. His watch glinted from the movement and Light noticed it was getting to be later in the evening. "I noticed the irony, too. It sounds like Kira doesn't it?"

"It does." L frowned. It was almost _too_ ironic if you asked L that Light was practically reading a book about himself. "What do you think? Do you agree with the killer in the book?"

"Not really." Light responded slowly. Truth be told, he couldn't completely blame the man in the book for his actions. Once you got into his head and saw where he was coming from, it was easy to understand what the killer was going through. It made him hard to hate. "But I can understand why he's doing what he does."

"I see."

From there the conversation dulled into silence. Not knowing what else to do, Light reopened the book to start the next chapter. It was nearing eleven o'clock and L refused to go to bed before midnight. That gave him a good hour to finish reading the next few chapters. He could hear L pulling out his laptop and start clicking away beside him. The sound was strangely soothing tonight.

-----

It had taken forever, but Ryuk was finally sure that the creepy human had fallen asleep. It had taken intense watching to tell the difference between when he was faking and really asleep, but Ryuk was confidant in his findings. He snickered to himself as he ripped a tiny corner out of the Death Note in the drawer; Rem said a little sliver was all you needed to get a visual without memories. Just what Ryuk needed. He chuckled to himself as he walked over to the bed where Light was sleeping like a baby. All cosy and snuggled into the blankets without a clue of what was going on around him. Perfect.

Remember Light's first reaction to his presence, Ryuk placed a clawed and firmly over the boy's mouth and pressed. Light's eyebrows scrunched from the unfamiliar weight, but did not open. With his free hand, Ryuk ran the piece of paper down Light's cheek and tossed it into his side holder so it wouldn't fall on the floor. He wasn't stupid enough to leave evidence lying around for that L guy to find. Hand now free of paper, he shook Light's shoulder. The boy moaned into his hand and tried to roll on his side, but the weight kept him. After a second shake, the eyes fluttered open and, as predicted, Light screamed.

Ryuk was thankful his hand was in the way or that L guy was sure to wake up. When Light realized that he couldn't make a sound he pulled his feet up and tried to grab at Ryuk's arm; Ryuk let him phase right through. The shinigami hissed quietly at him to kindly be quiet. "Stop screaming and kicking or I'll kill you."

Light obeyed the giant creepy monster and closed his mouth; he did not doubt that the monster would keep his word. His eyes darted to the side to see if L was going to do anything about this situation, but discovered he was asleep. Of all the times that guy could be _sleeping_ it had to be now. Though, considering this might give validation to all of Ryuuzaki's late night insanity the past few weeks, Light was kinda glad he was asleep. Either way he looked back up at the monster and controlled his breathing.

Ryuk chuckled when he watched Light's eyes go from shocked, to angry at L, to slightly confused. Once they started settling into that 'I'm a god who do you think you are?' look he was used to see, the shinigami chuckled. "Okay, here's the deal. I'm Ryuk. I'm a god of death and you're Kira."

"WHAT?" Light tried to shout, but it came out as more of a muffled 'MWWHA?' through the leathery skin.

"Yeah, I know. You're thinkin' I'm crazy." Ryuk licked his lips and kept his eyes on L. The last thing he needed was for him to wake up. "You had this crazy idea to give up your Death Note (the thing you used to kill people) and get it back later after you were cleared of suspicion." Ryuk shrugged. "Not quite sure how you had it all planned out, but I was bored and tried to give you the book back early. Didn' work so well."

Light lifted an eyebrow. This was crazy; Light was pretty sure he'd remember something as important as the fact he was Ki-

"And don't give me that look. When you give up a Death Note you forget about having it." Ryuk chuckled when Light glared. Ah, things were going to be fun. "Anyway, I'm bored so I thought it would be fun to tip you in on stuff." Light looked to be listening, so Ryuk continued. "Like say let you know about stuff you forgot. Fun, huh?"

Light's breathing was calm now and he was pretty sure that the huge thing on him was just creepy looking, not terrifying. He wished the lug would take his hand off his mouth so he could speak, though.

"Oh, but there's a catch." Light rolled his eyes at him and Ryuk snorted. "Yeah, yeah, you knew that already. This is important, you can't let him," Ryuk pointed to L, "know that you can see or hear me."

Well, that was different. Light looked over at the still sleeping Ryuuzaki and wondered what was so important about keeping Ryuk a secret. Heck, for all Light knew the shinigami was lying to him about this whole Kira thing. Now he really wanted to talk. Light pointed at the arm and glared best he could.

"No, you don't get to talk yet." Ryuk laughed softly. "You'll never shut up." Light looked significantly insulted, so that was good. "But just to make sure, if you let him know about me than this won't be fun anymore and I'll get bored with you."

Light could hardly see what that had to do with anythi-

"And then I'll have to kill you both."

Now, Light understood the catch and huffed. He wished the thing would stop interrupting his thoughts. Though, he was still curious as to why he was being told all of this. Granted, if the shinigami just wanted to have some fun, than he probably didn't need much of a reason. So, Light huffed into the hand.

"Glad we're at an understanding." Ryuk pulled his hand off of the kid's mouth and revealed the pout he already knew was there. Light was going to kill him when he got that Death Note back. "I'd tell you more but I'd be breaking some rules."

Light made sure to whisper when he replied to make sure Ryuuzaki didn't wake up. "What was the point of telling me this again? Wouldn't it be easier for Ryuuzaki to not know that I knew you were there if I really didn't?"

"This is more fun. 'Cause he thinks you can't see me. Nobody can unless they do something special."

"Did I do that?"

"I did it for you."

"Wonderful." Light rubbed his eyes with his hand and sighed. This whole thing was crazy. In fact, maybe if he went to sleep he'd wake up in the morning and this would all be a crazy dream brought on by too much time with his dear friend Ryuuzaki. "I'm going to sleep."

"Oh yeah," Ryuk started before reaching for an apple on the side table. One last thing to mention before Light decided to ignore him. "Misa's the other Kira. She found out the same way you did from her shinigami."

Light shoved his pillow over his head.


End file.
